


the portrait stays

by triggeringthehealing (froggydarren)



Series: FullmoonFiclet Entries [63]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 06:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9422084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/triggeringthehealing
Summary: After college and the police academy, Stiles doesn't look back on his student years much. But there are some reminders of those years that he's holding on to.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Full Moon Ficlet](http://fullmoon-ficlet.livejournal.com/459164.html) challenge on Livejournal - prompt #207: portrait

Now that he’s finished college, done with the academy, and settled in the routine of working at the Sheriff’s Department back in Beacon Hills, Stiles doesn’t look back on those years -- or the ones before -- too often. There are things he misses, like some of the friends he made after high school, and a little of the access to the on campus libraries and resources, but for the most part, he’s glad to be done. Some parts, he tries not to think about at all.

There was the dispute with the pack local to the police academy he attended, when they figured out he was a Spark and didn’t ask for permission to be on their land for the duration of his training. Luckily, he was not attached to Scott’s pack as an Emissary then, and the argument was resolved eventually. 

Stiles also cringes when someone brings up partying. He did some of that, but after the third encounter with an Omega seeing him as werewolf bait, and several Betas away from their packs finding him interesting for all the wrong reasons, Stiles kept his distance from parties. 

He doesn’t remember -- doesn’t  _ try _ to -- much about his classes, besides the few that he actually enjoyed. The ones that he only took to fill his requirements are definitely not on that list. 

But there’s one thing in his new apartment that reminds him of a class he only took because he ran out of all other options. It’s the only piece of decoration in the place so far -- he only moved in a few weeks earlier -- and he wonders how long it will last on the wall. It’s a portrait, one that had his art teacher ask him several times if he’d consider taking more classes with her as electives. Stiles politely declined every time she brought it up that semester. 

There was only one reason why he didn’t run away screaming from the class. Well, maybe more than one -- he’s not the pack member who’s good at screaming -- but one that persuaded him to stick around. The reason that’s behind the portrait on the bare wall of his tiny living room. 

“It’s coming down,” Derek said the first time he came over and spotted the picture. 

“It’s staying,” Stiles countered with a smirk on his face. 

So far, he managed to distract Derek with other, more interesting, things. Like kissing and making out. And sex. Which they finally had space for, away from roommates, pack members, and occasionally slightly overbearing fathers with bad timing and a habit of cleaning guns on the kitchen table. 

And really, it’s Derek’s fault that the portrait exists. Because when Stiles took the class, the task was to paint someone who inspired him, someone he looked up to, or someone he loved. He’s no longer trying to pretend that Derek  _ didn’t _ fall in all three categories. 

So, whenever Derek tries to find a way to get the picture of his own face off of the wall, Stiles tells him it’s not going anywhere. Not even when Derek tries to trade the portrait for moving in with Stiles. 

This weekend, when Stiles is trying not to trip over the boxes with Derek’s things around the apartment, he glances at the wall. 

The portrait is still there. 

**Author's Note:**

>   
> [my tumblr](http://froggydarren.tumblr.com/) || [my sterek fic tumblr](http://triggeringthehealing.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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